Brian Epstein was found dead at his home in Chapel Street, London, on 27 August 1967. He was 32 and had managed the Beatles throughout their rise from a Liverpool club group to one of the world’s most successful musical acts.

His death was accidental. An inquest found that Epstein had died after taking an overdose of sedatives. The Beatles were in Bangor, north Wales, when they received the news.

Epstein’s involvement with the group had begun less than six years earlier. In November 1961 he went to see the Beatles perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. He worked in his family’s record business and had no experience managing a band.

He nevertheless offered to manage them. Epstein encouraged a more professional stage presentation and began approaching record companies. Several rejected the group before they secured a contract with EMI’s Parlophone label in 1962.

Epstein managed the business surrounding their rapid British success, overseas tours and the international expansion of Beatlemania.

By 1967 their working arrangements were changing. The Beatles had stopped touring the previous year and were concentrating increasingly on studio work. Epstein remained their manager, but one of the largest parts of his earlier job, organising live appearances and tours, had disappeared.

On the weekend of his death, the Beatles were attending a seminar in Bangor given by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They cut short their visit after learning that Epstein had died.

His death did not make the Beatles’ later break-up inevitable. It did remove the person who had managed them since before they had a recording contract. John Lennon later recalled that without Epstein, he thought the group was in trouble.